Here we are in the midst of a parking meter privatization deal that's been nothing short of a boondoggle, but the message from Chicago taxpayers was loud and clear. This sucks!
They don't like the new deal with its more expensive parking and meters that demand to be fed 24/7 in parts of the city.
They don't like it and they let the mayor know it. Citizens rose up, spoke up, made a fuss. Now, as Carol Marin writes in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times, "It's time to do it again."
Amid the most embarrassing fall from grace the state has seen -- the impeachment and indictment of Rod Blagojevich on the heels of the conviction and sentencing of his predecessor, George Ryan -- Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins and his Illinois Reform Commission is planning to get Illinois government back on track.
"On Tuesday, they began laying out urgent recommendations," Marin said. "Chief among them was to impose limits on campaign contributions -- our state is one of only four that doesn't have any. The commission's proposal of $2,400 per election cycle per individual mirrors the federal system."
Marin sent e-mails to various state leaders last week, asking, "Do you personally support the Illinois Reform Commission's limits on campaign contributions?"
Her column includes the responses from Gov. Quinn, among others. While it appears Collins' crowd has the verbal support of many in Springfield, some feel it's not a good time to impose restrictions.
Collins needs to hear from those outside state government, however, and if the citizenship can shutdown Chicago's parking meters, surely it can help reform state government, too.
Contact information for key leaders is available in Marin's Sunday column, in which she says, "Repeat after me: Power to the people."
